The
Magician

he
Magician is a tarot card that has undergone a
significant shift of meaning
at the hands of the occultist of the 19th and early
20th centuries. In many modern decks, he is a
magician in the metaphysical sense, perhaps a
practitioner of ceremonial magic, a master of
arcane rituals and sacred lore. In early decks,
however, he is quite a different sort of character
- a mountebank or charlatan, what we would call a
sleight-of-hand artist. His moveable table could be
set up on a busy street, ready to draw passers-by
into a shell game or other similar con. In the
original Italian, the name of the card is not The
Magician (Il Mago) but Il Bagatto, a
rather obscure word most likely derived from the
word for wand, hence a cognate of
baguette.

So
rather than an impressive wizard, we have a rather
lowly character making a living by his wits, his
quick hands, and his engaging banter. In some
decks, he becomes a craftsman, usually a cobbler.
The common thread is that of cleverness with his
hands and technical skill. In the early Renaissance
millieu in which the tarot was born, technology had
none of its modern authority and mystique. People
who worked with their hands and made things were
scarcely above peasants in the minds of the clergy
and the elite. It would be centuries still before
we began to worship technology and industry as
answers to all our wants and needs.

So the
Magician is actually a rather down-to-earth fellow,
manipulating tools and physical objects (and
perhaps our perceptions as well) to serve quite
practical needs.

In my
own system of understanding the major arcana, The
Magician is the connection between Thinking Self,
our analytical mind, and the physical world of body
and matter. This is not the path of magic in the
metaphysical sense, but rather the path of
technology and direct action on the physical world.
The Magician accomplishes his goals by
understanding how things work and implementing a
plan to achieve the desired result. He may build or
use gadgets; he may conduct experiments; he may
even develop scientific theories to help explain
the behavior of physical objects.

Science,
technology and engineering are notoriously dry and
complex subjects. The Magician represents the kind
of abstract, objective, unemotional mindset needed
to master these disciplines and put them to
effective use. It's a state of mind we all need to
employ, especially those of us whose work involves
technical skill or knowledge. Often, the Magician's
way is the most efficient and direct path to a
goal.

The
Magician's down side, however, is his excessive
rationalization and sometimes opportunistic
materialism. In the Magician's world, there is no
place for love, dreams, poetry, or spirituality.
It's all about ideas, theories, technological
progress, and monetary gain. He can become obsessed
with facts and dismissive of anything that doesn't
fit his cut-and-dried picture of reality. He stands
in direct contrast to the Fool's careless,
unpremeditated, emotional style of living in the
world.

When
the Magician comes up for you, consider your
relationship with rationality. Do you overanalyze
things? Or perhaps underanalyze, so that your
careless thinking causes trouble. Also consider how
your thinking abilities affect your material
success and comfort. How do you deal with the cold
facts of making a living and getting things done,
day to day?

Tarot
Wisdom
is a regular feature of Starweaver's Gems from Earth and
Sky